The body of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, the 15-year-old girl who was found dead inside a Tesla belonging to musician D4vd, had been in the abandoned vehicle for several weeks before it was discovered.
LAPD Captain and Commanding Officer Scot M. Williams spoke to PEOPLE and told them, “We know for sure that Celeste Rivas Hernandez died and someone placed her body in the front trunk area of David Burke’s [d4vd’s legal name] Tesla.”
“We know that the Tesla had been parked at the location from which it was towed for several weeks, so it is very likely Celeste Rivas Hernandez had been dead for several weeks prior to her body being discovered,” Williams said.
“The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner has not determined a cause or manner of her death, so we don’t know for sure if anyone has any criminal culpability for her death beyond the concealment of her dead body,” the captain added.
Authorities found that Rivas appeared to have some connections to the singer and revealed that her death is being treated as a homicide.
D4vd’s Tesla was brought to the impound lot after “someone reported it abandoned” in the Hollywood Hills. Police were called days later after workers “reported a strong odor” coming from the vehicle. The Tesla was also never reported stolen.
D4vd recently canceled both his European and U.S. tours and has been cooperating with the police.
This week, video footage of Rivas’s sighting has been posted online, including a video of her getting into an altercation with a neighbor on September 8, 2024, months after she had been reported missing. Rivas uses the n-word in the video, but viewers are concerned as to why her parents did not inform the police that she had returned home.